England legend James Graham calls on Super League owners and RFL to make ‘selfless decisions’ and embrace NRL investment

St Helens and NRL legend James Graham has called for ‘selfless decisions’ to be made to ensure the Australian comp invests in and takes control of Super League.

Graham, who made over 230 appearances for St Helens as well as 186 in the NRL, has argued that the NRL investing in Super League can be ‘mutually beneficial’.

Talks and reports of the NRL finally investing in Super League keep ramping up and they’re particularly strong right now given the fact the sport’s big bosses from either side of the world have been in Las Vegas.

Graham was also out in Vegas as part of Triple M radio’s coverage, where he and former NRL and Catalans Dragons man Luke Keary advocated for the Australian comp to invest in Super League.

Keary, who retired last year, said: “I would love to see it, and not to take them over and whatever… They’ve got things that are just fantastic over there, and they’ve got some, I’m going to say, administrative things that aren’t up to scratch.

“They’re not up to scratch, right, and Jimmy can hopefully put a bit of substance behind it, but I just feel like if those NRL administrators can get a hold of it, get a hold of the product, package it together with the NRL, get a better broadcast deal, because their broadcast deal’s halved since COVID, I feel like it’ll be such a better product.”

Super League icon James Graham calls on NRL to invest

Graham, who spent nine years in Super League during his first sting before returning in 2020 offered some of that insight, pointing to the administration of the RFL and Super League as being flawed.

The 40-year-old argued: “I think the NRL should (invest), because I think it could be mutually beneficial, so there’s a potential partnership there that could work for both sides.

“In terms of the administration of the game over there, for too long, in my opinion, it’s been governed by self-interest, and they’ve not stuck to their plan.

“We talk about teams sticking to their plans with their halfbacks, well, the Super League have had promotion relegation, they’ve had middle eights, I was speaking with the owners of the London Broncos, and they don’t know if they can come and play Super League next year, they don’t know the criteria, there’s a lot of unknowns.

“If the NRL were to take over, they’re going to need full control, so you’re going to have to have some people make some selfless decisions for the betterment of the game.”

As well as the major changes near the top of the game, Graham also advocated for the NRL in respect to what they could facilitate in respect to a TV deal.

He argued: “The low-hanging fruit is in and around how the game is packaged up to the audience. There is no mid-week shows on any of the terrestrial TV, or on Sky Television.

“That’s all part of the game, and growing the game, and talking and debating, and being passionate about what we see on the weekend, they don’t have any of that.”